Artist: Walter Iooss Date of Life: He was born on September 15 1943 and is still alive to this day. He is 76 years young Background:Walter Iooss was born in Temple, Texas in 1943. At around the age of 5 years old Walter and his family decided to move to East Orange, New Jersey. When he was 16 he was accepted into the German School of Photography in New York. During that time he worked really hard and his talents where then recognized. At only the age of 17 Walter got his first job taking pictures for the sport magazine Sports Illustrated. Style: Walter Iooss’ photography style changed over time. Initially, he used photography as a way to get into sporting events for free. As he began to photograph more, he began to love the art of photography. Walter was a specific photographer. He strove to capture photos that were iconic towards the sport or the player, rather than the game played. His goal was to capture photos of iconic moments in sports. He captured set photo shoots as well as sporting events. Philosophy:Walter Iooss’ philosophy in photography was simple. He was just trying to show the joy of playing a sport or competing in a sport. His message was not to political, it was simply showing joy, dedication, and hard work. His major planning included capturing big moments in a single image. Walter was trying to say that if you work hard, then you can have fun with what you do. Influences:Looking at Walter Iooss’ work has really left an influence on me. Not only has he changed the way I photograph, he has changed the way I look at playing the sport. After looking at his work, I have learned many different camera angles that create different effects. I also have learned how he uses different lighting to create a mysterious or dramatic effect. The last thing I learned was when to use black and white or not. Walter Iooss also had many influences that led him on his path to success. His first influence was his father. His father always encouraged him to pick up the camera and go take some photos. Another person that Walter considers a huge influence is a man named Jordan Zimmerman. Jordan was the first one to place cameras in hockey nets. Walter though of him as a "master innovator." His other key influences are Hy Peskin and Mark Kaufman. Walter was inspired by Peskin's sideline photography and was motivated by the work Kaufman had done for Sport's Illustrated. Sources: 1. https://www.walteriooss.com/ 2.https://www.annenbergphotospace.org/person/walter-iooss/ 3. http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1868304_1818566,00.html Artist Statement: I really enjoyed recreating these images because they are of some of my sports Idols like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Tiger Woods. The best part of this project was taking these because I was able to tell my brother what to do with out him getting mad at me. I think they turned out really well. My favorite of the bunch has to be the one with Kobe Bryant dribbling the basketball in the drive way. I decided to change the image to black and white because it looked a lot cooler that way with the background of the hoop and the sky.
Image 1: This image was kinda hard to create for one reason. That is, my brother couldn't keep a straight face and the tee kept falling out of his mouth. I had him change into a striped polo so that he can resemble the image to the left. After that I gave him a golf hat and told him to stand in front of a plane looking wall so that there will be nothing in the background. After that I then took this image to Photoshop and added the black and white filter to it. There you have it that's how I made that picture. Image 2: This image wasn't as challenging as the first one. The only hard part was trying to find the right clothes for my brother to wear so he can sort of look like the basketball player Rick Barry. We set up shop in our drive way because there is a basketball hoop there. I then stood in front of the hoop to try to get the same angle that Iooss's photo was taken. I think it came out pretty good, all things considered. Image 3: Another challenging photo to make mainly because I had to find the props. Also my brother is a pretty funny kid and he is always smiling so it was again hard for him to make a straight face. This also another one of my favorite photos because it's Tiger Woods and I love to play golf. Image 4: Image 4 was pretty simple. After the other basketball photos I had my brother pose and I then shot that photo. They are both similar but not quite the same. LeBron is looking at the camera. Where as my brother is looking down at the ball. Image 5: This photo is my favorite of all of them. the reason being is that there is so much going on in this photo. With the basketball hoop and the dark sky in the background to the placement of the dribble move my brother is doing, trying to emulate Kobe Bryant. I also like this photo because Kobe is probably my favorite basketball player. The toughest part about taking this photo was trying to teach my brother who isn't very good at basketball, how to do the dribble move. It came out close to Kobe but not quite as low and fierce as his.